Louisiana - Day 25 - to Poverty Point

Poverty Point Reservoir State Park, Delhi
Tuesday, 25 February 2020

Mardi Gras!

Dexter pointed out to me that the squirrels in this campground look different than we've been seeing - they're much more red.  Though I did see one with a tail so white it showed up like a white flag, even in the early morning light.

a Newfie

I also saw a lot of dogs in this campground and am glad I wasn't planning to stay (not with no wifi or hotspot signal).  One of them was probably a Newfoundland (nearly up to its owner's waist and a whole lot of black hair) and looked very sweet.  If I end up living in a cold climate, I might try to adopt one.

today's route

Back on the road
I discovered that being so close to the Mississippi River meant I was close enough to pick up a signal for MS public radio, or MPB Think Radio, as they call it.  What I heard in the hour I was close enough was a weekly program called Money Talks - very interesting.  Then I turned west and was stuck with classical music again.  I've concluded the classical music I like is what I was raised with.  I was lucky to have had that, but I haven't expanded my repertoire since I left for college lo those many decades ago.  Maybe I should take a music appreciation course when I settle down.

Most of today's drive was through farming country, and some of the fields were part of LSU Ag Center's Northeast Research Center.  I saw several college-age folks get out of a car at an irrigated field and guessed they're part of LSU's agriculture program.

I passed a historical marker for Balmoral Mounds.   https://www.hmdb.org  Considering the trouble geometry students have in learning to calculate equilateral triangles, creating one in 1000 AD out of mounds made by hauling baskets of dirt is pretty remarkable.

I passed an orchard of some kind, though I don't recognize the tree type.  They were taller than I'm used to seeing fruit trees so maybe some kind of nut?

I passed yet another dead critter by the road and this one looked just like a wolf.  A real wolf, not a wolf-cross dog.  I looked it up and apparently Louisiana does have wolves, so that's probably what I saw.  Such a shame for it to die like that.

I came to the Historic City of Tallulah, the sign says, and from their Wikipedia page, I agree it's got a lot of history.  I'm including the link  https://en.wikipedia.org/Tallulah because of the 1899 lynchings of 5 Sicilian businessmen, at least in part because they didn't honor Jim Crow laws, and the subsequent protest by the Italian government and charming response by the US government.  Also the origins of Delta Air Lines and some events from the Civil War.  This town looks like it was once beautiful and is now just tired.  I thought most jobs might have left, and Wikipedia agrees, because the economy is primarily based on agriculture.  But there's a correctional facility with massive amounts of razor wire almost right in the middle of town - not too picturesque but maybe a good source of jobs.

I passed a sign telling me I was on the Historic Route 80 Byway.  Never having heard of Historic Route 80, I looked it up and learned that back in the olden days, this road that runs from Georgia to California was known as the Dixie Overland Highway.  The website says I can "drink in vistas of verdant farms and forested landscapes.  Swaths of open land give the area a feeling of remoteness, but the byway is also an important route for farmers and loggers."  Although it didn't seem too verdant when I was there (this being February), I guess this description is otherwise accurate, though a bit flowery.

Dexter and a non-verdant vista

I'm guessing all the fields I was passing along here were for cotton, though some might have been rice.

I passed a sign for the Tendal Mound, which is a square mound about 6' tall with a flat top, likely built sometime between 400 and 1000 AD.

I passed a town called Quebec, that I assume was established by the Acadian refugees.

I crossed Bayou Macon and found myself in the town of Delhi.  Of course, it's not pronounced like the Delhi in India; this being not only the US but also the Southern US, it's pronounced DELL-high.  Its original name was Deerfield, which seems a much more sensible (and attractive) name, and I can't find any information about why it was changed, or why it was changed to Delhi, of all names.

Tonight's campground is a few miles from the main part of town, and I stopped off to get myself registered and walk the dogs.  Then farther on down the road toward Poverty Point.

The campground is, as the name suggests, on Poverty Point Reservoir, and along the road I saw a lot of houses taking advantage of the reservoir.  For instance, I saw one 15-house subdivision of very nice, expensive, houses situated right on the waterfront.  They were all built on slab foundations.  I noticed that several houses in the area that had clearly been built a while back were raised about 3 steps up from the ground.  I understand reservoirs are usually kept at a stable level, but would it really be that much more expensive or less desirable to elevate these expensive houses a bit too?

At a point where the reservoir came right up to the roadway, I saw about a dozen Anhingas perched in dead trees in the water (looked like they'd been killed when the water for the reservoir had been impounded) looking like vultures - or Snoopy's version of a vulture, at least.

Poverty Point World Heritage Site
This is an important site and I want to do it justice - plus I have a lot of photographs - so will do a separate posting for that.

Back to Delhi
I was down to just over a quarter tank of propane, and it occurred to me that I might want more if it got cold overnight.  I found a place in the brochure the campground handed out that said they could pump propane for me but their gauge wasn't working, that they usually only fill separate tanks so they can weigh them.  I told them I'd found I took about 7 gallons when I was down to a quarter tank left, and though it wasn't quite as empty as that I was willing to pay extra just so I didn't have to worry about being cold.  It turned out to be a small feed and supply store, and they filled me up and I paid a little extra, and they helped me back the RV out into a busy street, and everybody was happy.  (The sun had finally come out today so it was easy to be happy.)

I then went on to the Brookshire Brothers Market I'd found online that's in the middle of town; this is a small chain I've learned to like in my travels and, sure enough, this one didn't let me down.  Each night before bed I give each dog a Milk-Bone and Lily a few kitty treats.  What I've always given her, and she's always liked, are soft treats made by Meow Mix.  Despite that being a well-established brand, I have a really hard time finding them, but I'm afraid to experiment with anything else because Lily seems to be a picky eater.  Well, I was nearly out of them and had tried 3 stores in other towns already with no luck, but this grocery store had them.  Yea!  While I was there I got a few other things I wanted, so once again I was happy.  (You know, there's really nothing like some sunshine after a bunch of gloom.)

The nice woman who checked me out at the grocery store said she liked living in Delhi because it was quiet and there wasn't any drama (her phrase).

So back to the campground.